Sarah Silverman hurt by jokes at James Franco roast

Comedienne Sarah Silverman was shocked and hurt when her age became a target for jokes onstage at James Franco’s TV roast.

Silverman, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Bill Hader were among the famous faces who took part in the Comedy Central Roast, during which the stars mocked Franco and also took shots at one another.

The funnywoman, 42, brushed off the insults about her acting career and looks, but she admits she was faking laughter when the panel poked fun at her age during the TV special, which aired earlier this month.

Appearing on talk show “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell,” she says, “I think the secret about roasts is everybody laughs… and then I was in bed for two days. It’s brutal! I think that everyone who does the roasts is probably in bed for two days trying to remember their self-esteem…

“I wish so much that (age jokes) didn’t cut me to the core. I don’t want young girls to see me be hurt by jokes about age because I feel like it’s not a good example. Me being old, first of all, at the roast? Completely took me by surprise… It’s a roast, so I feel like a hypocrite even addressing it, but it touched on something because it’s personal. It’s so woman-based. I feel like… as soon as a woman gets to an age where she has opinions and she’s vital and she’s strong, she’s systematically shamed into hiding under a rock. And this is by progressive pop-culture people! It’s really odd! I feel bad that it cut me… I feel like your joke is that I’m still alive. My crime is not dying.”

However, Silverman is adamant stand-up stars should never be censored: “I’m hurt all the time but I would die defending people’s rights to say anything.”